


The stars above Tochinoki

by vegalocity



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Chihiro doesn't remember the spirit world, Chihiro's got human friends, F/M, Haku knows nothing about humans, Socially awkward Haku, and really reacts like any sane human, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:30:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8872192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegalocity/pseuds/vegalocity
Summary: He wanted to get her alone. He'd made that much certain. He kept asking her to meet him somewhere isolated after class or during lunch, and every time he'd return to class after she'd refused to meet him at whatever spot he'd decided on he'd look at her with this sort of kicked puppydog face.
But what did he expect out of her? He'd broken into her house the night he arrived in Tochinoki! She wasn't going anywhere with him alone!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This fic is a Christmas gift to [My Buddy Kristi](http://a-very-bizzare-girl.tumblr.com) and granted we'd been able to discuss it long ago, she got to pick her present. A Spirited Away fic that's a realistic take on Chihiro and Haku reuniting after Chihiro returns to the Human world.

The breeze from her window was what awoke her, ruffling her bangs against her forehead and making her skin itch. 

She blinked blearily in the night, brown eyes dilating to adjust to the slight gleam of light that was the moon shining down onto her. 

She hummed in distaste, rubbing her forehead with the heel of her palm and was just about to roll over to fall back asleep when her throat constricted dryly. 

Right. Water first. 

When she sat up the tail of her long brown braid jumped over her shoulder and hung in front of her. She took a moment to blink down at the shimmering purple hairband before she reached over to her nightstand and uncorked the bottle of water she kept there. Her head pitched backward as she drank her fill, the cool liquid sliding down her throat and making the pain in her throat cede. 

She wiped her mouth with her wrist and set the thick plastic bottle back onto the table. 

Damn, the cold woke her up a little. 

Chihiro let her body fall against the bed again and tilted her head to look out the window. 

It had been nearly seven years since they'd moved to Tochinoki, but she never got used to the night. She grew up in the night life of Kyouto, the bustle and lights of the city, it was always difficult to sleep with the dead silence. Her mother had given her a small fan to keep in her room for white noise, but it didn't do much, just made her extra cold in winter. 

But it was summer now, and that included the summer sky.

The stars in Kyouto were few and far between, so that was one of the few ways Tochinoki was superior. But there was still enough light pollution from Nogoya in the south that the stars were a little more scarce than she'd wish them to be.

Distantly, she could remember a sky without the glaring city lights. The moon high in the sky and bright, and the stars dotted like little flecks of silver paint against the dark blue backdrop of the sky. 

She couldn't remember where she'd seen that though. 

They used to go camping along the Kohaku river, but that was still close enough to the city to cover a lot of stars. And She couldn't pull the memory from something as silly as something she'd seen in movie or on TV.

She could remember looking into the sky and seeing so many stars, so many more that what actually felt possible.

But she couldn't for the life of her remember where she'd seen such a thing.

A shadow flecked across the moon. A long shadow. She'd assumed for a moment it was a peculiarly dark cloud for a moment, before it flickered across the moon, curving around like a snake swimming. Her dark eyes widened and she darted into a sitting position, scrambling around in her sheets until she was facing the window in full.

Unfortunately, in the time it took her to get a better view, whatever the shadow being was, had completely passed her by. 

Chihiro grumbled slightly, standing up and leaning a bit out the window, trying to catch another glimpse of the strange shadow against the moon.

Nothing.

She huffed in disappointment. She must be tired, dreaming such strange things with her eyes open. She yawned, cupping a hand over her mouth and stretching her free arm in the air. Oh well, back to bed then.

She flopped back down onto her bed, this time taking not a moment's pause to turn onto her side and face the wall. 

The moonlight lit up the profile of her room, she could see the shadow of her lamp, her textbooks all stacked into a neat pile, her lucky snow globe depicting a shrine maiden and a dragon, the picture frame Rumi gave her from her last visit. 

Her eyes widened when another shadow made itself known. Her muscles tensed, goosebumps quickly making their way up her exposed arms and hair standing on end. 

There was a person in her windowsill. Crouched down and holding onto the frame. Whoever they were, they were trying to open the window fully, probably to come in. 

There was a Person in her windowsill.

_There was a_ Person _in her windowsill!_

She clenched her jaw and bit back the urge to scream. No... No. Whoever was here, braving climbing the steep hill their house was located on, taking a ladder or something to get to the second floor that her room was located, and trying to shimmy open a window that was meant only to open about a crack. Sure bugs could get in, and maybe at the most a small bird, but whoever the stranger was had to break the hinges first. They'll probably give up and go away soon.

The creaking of metal filled the silent night air and Chihiro tried not to panic.

Okay. Okay. Plan B then.

The entire second floor was just a glorified attic with a window and a tiny adjoining restroom, the vaulted ceiling she'd been staring at since she was ten proof enough of that. 

Papa was always a little worried about more or less giving her her own floor, saying if someone wanted to give her trouble it would be easy to break the old hinges. 

He'd always meant to get the window replaced with something more sturdy, but it was one of those things that simply never got done. 

Thankfully for Chihiro, Mama was a little more pragmatic.

Subtly, as quietly and calmly as she could, just so whoever was trying to bust open her window wouldn't notice over their own work, she let her arm closer to the wall flop over the side of the bed, searching blindly and slowly for the pommel of her mother's shot at protecting her.

Aha! There it was. The rubber grip of the titanium bat scratched against her calloused palm as she let the bat silently fall into her hand. She never really was interested in Baseball, But she had some experience with handling equipment thanks to Gym class.

At the very least she knew how to swing a bat correctly without hurting herself. 

Okay. Okay. She had this. She was Chihiro Ogino, she was Seventeen years old, She'd survived.... Well... not a lot, but she'd bounced back from pretty much everything the world had tossed at her with only mild complaining. 

She could do this.

The hinges from the window gave another groan

She probably didn't even need to hit the person, just scare them into falling and let gravity do the rest of the work!

There was the sound of metal breaking and a rattle, and Chihiro couldn't afford to psych herself up any more.

She let out a screech and twisted around in bed, lifting herself up and raising her bat into a ready to swing position.

“ _Get out of my room!_ ” She shrieked and darted to her feet. Her face was scarlet and her heart was racing, she probably looked like a wild girl.

The stranger, as it seemed, was at least properly surprised. Unfortunately, whoever it was had a good enough grip on the windowsill that they didn't fall.

She could see their eyes glinting off of the moonlight and she watched as they widened in surprise. She gripped the bat tighter as the person took their hand off of the busted window pane.

“Chihiro! Could that really be You...?” The stranger was at least a boy, she could tell that much. If anything that made her even more furious. How dare this boy, if he knew her enough to know her name, how _dare_ he break into her room while she would otherwise be sleeping and _Break her window_ and only have the gall to be slightly surprised?!

“Get Out of my house.” She demanded again, this time deadly calm, silently proud of the lack of tremor in her voice. Her anger had overwhelmed her fear. Sweet.

“Chihiro, please be calm.” The stranger tried to placate her and she'd decided she had enough of this creep.

She brought the bat down hard into his side.

He grunted in pain, but he didn't fall. He didn't even let go of the window. If anything he gripped it even harder.

She heard the splintering of wood.

“Look, I don't know who you are.” She noticed him flinch, and she couldn't make out a damn thing about this guy beyond his creepy glimmering eyes, but that had clearly hurt. “But around this neighborhood you can't just burst into peoples houses, _Break their windows_ , and then ask them to calm down.” 

Her father once said that after they'd moved to Tochinoki she'd carried herself differently, like she carried herself with a new sort of confidence. Her mother said her friends might be a bad influence with how boyish she acted, especially concerning how colorful her threats would be to the boys around school that gave them trouble. But she was the tough girl in her friend group too. Even she didn't know where she could have possibly gotten these mannerisms from. They just made her feel powerful and in charge when she was scared. Kind of like protection from a big sister she didn't have.

But where she got it from didn't matter. What mattered was using it to her advantage. So she puffed out her chest and spread her legs a little farther apart. 

“Chihiro, I'm not here to cause you harm!” the stranger insisted and she made sure to visibly roll her eyes. 

“Sure, tell that to my window.” He looked do the side, as though he hadn't even realized that he'd broken it. Wow. This guy really had some nerve. “Leave before I call the police, or push you out the window myself.” She drew back her bat again, and the stranger held up a hand.

“I'll leave, if you answer me one thing.” Honestly she didn't know why she decided to humor the guy. It would have been way more reasonable to just not answer him and push him out the window anyway, but whatever, if she answers the question then he'll leave and she can call the police in peace. Hey, maybe their insurance will pay for some decent friggin' windows in her room. 

She realized that he was biding his time, either waiting for her answer or just delaying the inevitable.

“....So? Spill.” He jumped briefly at her demand, she could see his weird gleaming eyes dart away, as though yanking his gaze away from her very specifically. 

Which was weird. It wasn't like she was wearing any super indecent pajamas or anything. Just normal green pajama bottoms with flowers on them and a T-shirt advertising a local restaurant that was way too big for her that she'd gotten as a consolation prize in a marketplace raffle. 

Though obviously at this point, this guy had proven he wasn't normal, so maybe she'd have to take his inability to meet her eye anymore with a grain of salt.

“Does the name Nigihayami Kohakunushi mean anything to you?” Her eyes widened. That was certainly not what she'd expected. Though she wasn't exactly sure what she'd expected at all. Maybe reference to her chest size or something else that weird guys who break windows would ask. 

“Uhm....” She took a step back, more out of confusion than anything else. “My family used to visit the Kohaku River when I was little... but I nearly drowned once and we stopped.” She'd heard that story every so often when she was younger. It was why her parents put her through swimming lessons so early in her life. 

He sighed then. A distant, heavy sigh. Like the weight of the world was rested on his shoulders once more after only a moment's respite. 

For some unfathomable reason, even as splinters of wood still slipped from between his fingers and his scary shimmery eyes met hers again, she felt awful. Whatever deficiency her answer had it clearly upset him. 

“I see... Well, I am truly, deeply sorry for disturbing you Chihiro.” He sighed and let his hands drop from either wide of the window panes. “Just please remember, you have friends in high places. Even if you cannot remember them.” With that he fell backward. Chihiro yelped and dashed forward, looking out the broken window to try and see where the boy had fallen.

But there was noone below.

Her eyes strained in the night, but she couldn't see anyone in beneath her house. A shadow passed over her head, and she looked up to see the snake-like shadow against the moon again. But this time she caught something she hadn't seen before.

The lower part of the shadow wasn't such, it gleamed silver in the moonlight, almost like scales against light.

Then, Chihiro Ogino, somewhat afraid, but more perplexed, dropped her bat to the ground, and shouted for her father.

Papa's thundering steps shook her attic room as he dashed toward the ladder that lead to her door, shouting for her. 

She was able to tell him that she thought someone tried to get into her room, and as her mother dialed the police with the cordless phone Chihiro sat down heavily onto her bed and began to wonder what was so familiar about that boy's distant, glimmering eyes. 

* * *

“Chihiro! Hey Chihiro! Is it true you guys got a burgler in your house?!” Was the hello she received when she got to school the next day. 

She winced, rubbed at an eye and smiled meekly at the friend that greeted her. “Hello to you too Harumi.” Harumi Koyama, the first friend she'd made in Tochinoki, smiled widely at her, grey eyes sparkling with interest. Harumi never grew out of her superhero phase as it was. She was so eager for an adventure she would lap up any chance at it she could get. And in such a small town like Tochinoki, something as simple as a break in was the best she'd get.

“Sorry, but ooh you have that 'I didn't sleep at all' look on your face.” Chihiro pinched her lips to the side and Harumi's smile widened. “Yeah that one! It really did happen didn't it? I heard you smacked the thief upside the head with your mother's frying pan!” What?

“Okay, first of all, it was my baseball bat, you know, the one Mom got me for these exact situations?” Harumi rolled her eyes and slung an arm around Chihiro's shoulders, leading her into the locker room. Their lockers were near enough to each other that they could keep talking as they removed their shoes. Best part of a small town, small locker rooms.

Also everyone knew everyone else's business. She felt at least three pairs of obvious eyes boring into her back, no doubt hearing the same faulty rumor Harumi did.

“And Second, it wasn't the head, I got him in the side. And third.” she closed her locker with a decisive 'clack' “He was hardly a thief. He showed up at my window, creeped me out, _Broke_ my window, and asked me a weird question before leaving. Stalker would be more apt.” though she wasn't exactly comfortable with giving the stranger that title. 

She'd thought the rest of the night on the stranger. She hadn't been able to make out any of his features. She'd discerned his voice as male, and she'd seen his eyes in the glow of the moonlight, but everything else was lost on her. 

So the question then had come to placing the voice and the eyes to anyone. And she'd spent the whole night on that. He wasn't anybody she knew here, or from Kyouto. No matter how little she was when they'd moved She'd remember such strange eyes. 

Her memories of moving to Tochinoki were always a little hazy, even after the fact. After they'd been fully moved in, and her parents had thrown a fit about the movers already putting all of their things inside and vanishing, everything had been too stressful to think on the strange detour they'd taken. And then when she could, she'd realized that the strange feeling the clock tower had given her must have affected her perception of the place; they'd explored the abandoned amusement park a bit and they'd left, but she couldn't remember anything in specific.

So if there was any time she could have probably met the boy, it was during that blurry afternoon over Seven years ago.

But then the questions became, where the heck did she meet him while they were exploring that place, why had he clung to that one day's memory and hunted her down, and most importantly, _why couldn't she remember a dang thing about that day?!_

She huffed to herself and Harumi followed suit beside her. After the initial explanation Harumi did at least seem happy enough to let her be gloomy and tired in peace. The walk to their classroom was quiet and Chihiro's pounding, sleepless head was thankful for that.

Chihiro shuffled into her seat, as just some track kid her assigned seat wasn't in the front, and granted the small teenage population of the town, she more or less could pick her seat.

This semester she'd chosen to sit by the window. And for this exact purpose too. She turned to the window and leaned heavily onto her folded arms, trying her best not to fall asleep there, or if she would then she could hope that Harumi behind her, or the ever tardy Amaya (another of her friends) would wake her up with the door clattering open about thirty seconds after class started.

She must have drifted off at some point, staring out the window, because before she knew it the class was as full as it could get and Harumi was poking her in the back with her pencil. 

She darted upright and yawned, shooting Harumi a grateful look over her shoulder and glancing across the room confirmed that she had nearly slept through Amaya stumbling into class. Thankfully Ms. Sakurano was still too busy glaring down Amaya, whom clearly had just sat down and was taking out her homework, to have noticed Chihiro's little nap.

Amaya wasn't late because she always slept in or something. Her parents weren't doing well financially and she had taken up a job early in the morning to help pay her way through school. She'd arranged everything with the Principal and Ms. Sakurano, so she never got in trouble for her tardiness, but she was sure it was still annoying for their first period teacher. 

She shot Amaya a little smile when their eyes met, and her ever-busy friend smiled back, dark eyes seeming even darker in the pale morning light.

“Now Class...” Ms. Sakurano finally spoke. “Now that everyone's here.” She shot a look at Amaya. “We have a new student starting today! He and his sister just moved here from Hokkaido! So let's give him a warm welcome, alright?” The door slid open with a hollow sound, and most of the students perked up, including her.

The town was... well it was small. Small enough that new people were news for years. There were still some people that called Chihiro and her family “the new family” so it would be interesting. After seven years she wasn't the New Kid anymore.

She smiled slightly at the idea. Maybe they could adopt this new boy into their group? Would Harumi and Amaya mind? She hoped not. Boy amongst girls or not she wanted this new guy to feel welcome. 

Her smile dropped when the boy entered. He walked with a weird sort of pride, like he'd been treated with respect all of his life and assumed no different now.

His hair wasn't cut close to his head or held long like anything she was used to seeing. He had... almost a bob haircut, and it was dyed. Or at least, she thought it was dyed. It looked like it was a dark green instead of brown or black. It almost seemed like the school uniform was a bit too small for him, like he'd had a growth spurt in the past week since he'd gotten it. The shirt was fine, but she could see his socks from the bottoms of his pants.

The boy took a long moment to stare into the classroom, before his eyes locked with hers

“Well why don't you introduce yourself?” Ms. Sakurada prompted, and he smiled, refusing to look away from her before he turned to quickly jot his name down onto the blackboard for everyone to see.

“My name is Nohi Kohaku.” He stated simply before turning to face the class again.

Or rather, face her.

His eyes glimmered strangely in the early morning light, as though he were looking off into the distance instead of directly at anything. She felt Harumi thump her back but it didn't process in her mind as he kept talking.

“My elder sister Arina and I moved to this town very recently from Hokkaido. Pleased to meet you.” He bowed to the classroom.

Fuck.

Fuck that was the boy.

The one that snuck into her house. Kohaku Nohi. Was that his name? Fuck. 

Harumi thumped her shoulder again, this time offering her a note with her hand.

'He's looking right at you!'

A sick sort of dread settled over her shoulders as Ms. Sakurano placed a hand on this... Kohaku Nohi's shoulder.

“Well there's an empty desk beside Chihiro over there. Please take a seat Kohaku.” And there he sat.

Chihiro's grip on her pencil tightened when Nohi didn't take out any school equipment, no books, no notes. Not even a piece of paper and pencil.

Oh Kami was he one of those kinds that didn't bring anything for the first day and had to borrow a pencil? Oh Kami she hoped not.

Her natural attempts at kindness only could stretch so far. Especially considering where she knew him from.

He leaned over to whisper to her and she prepared for the worst.

“Please meet me on the rooftop at lunch.” 

Her brow furrowed and she hunched a little tighter against her desk.

“Why?” She almost felt like adding on a snide comment about breaking her bag and asking her weird questions too, but she felt that night have been too much to not get noticed by the teacher.

“I need to speak with you.”

“Nohi-san, I do realize you may need to ask where we are in the lecture, but I'd rather you raise your hand than be disruptive.” Ms. Sakurano interjected before she could respond to that. But she did shoot him a decently skeptical expression. 

She was probably gonna go sure, but she sure as hell wasn't going alone. 

She took out her Passing Notes pen, a shimmery purple ink, and quickly scribbled into the scrap of paper Harumi had given her.

'he's the guy that broke into my house' As casually as she possibly could she slipped the paper back to Harumi.

Her friend audibly gasped as she read the note. Thankfully Ms. Sakurano was actually starting the day with discussion of the newest cliffhanger in their assigned reading, so Harumi just sounded like she was just being sassy.

Ms. Sakurano shot her an exasperated look, but continued with the lesson.

* * *

Harumi cracked her knuckles steadily, one by one for every step they climbed toward the rooftop. It was annoying, but a constant aspect of her, So Chihiro didn't point it out.

Amaya had gotten that tick on the side of her lips when She was annoyed though, so it seemed like that sentiment was Chihiro's alone. She'd probably insist that Haru-

“For Kami's sake Harumi, either crack all your knuckles or don't, stop being an asshole!” Harumi pouted,but she did at least finish cracking her left hand within the span of three stairs. 

But at last here they were. 

Chihiro took a deep breath and grinned at her friends from over her shoulder.

“Let's see what this felon has to say, huh?” Harumi grinned and Amaya scowled, both ready for action in their own ways.

It almost felt like the door was waiting to be opened, because it was considerably lighter than it usually was whenever anyone wanted to get onto the roof. There wasn't any sort of pressurized door power too keep it from shutting too hard or something, but it was a heavy door, so it usually took someone leaning most of their body onto the door for it to open.

But not this time. This time she just needed to nude it a little with her shoulder and it swung open in perfect obedience. 

That... was already weird.

“Maybe it was finally greased?” Amaya suggested, brows knitted together in confusion. Harumi it seemed, didn't care. She marched onto the rooftop with a confidence that Chihiro could tell was fake. 

“Okay! Where is this sneaky window sneaker!” Chihiro huffed and followed her excitable friend out, Amaya trailing behind the two of them worriedly. She was reaching into her pocket, for what Chihiro knew, was a dagger she kept on her person at all times. 

Knowing Amaya was armed was the only thing keeping Chihiro from worrying about getting a weapon herself. 

“Chihiro!” She heard Nohi's voice, and the others did too, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. The roof was.. well... a rooftop. It was fenced off for safety sure, but other than a heater in the corner of the rooftop and a couple of crates scattered about there wasn't anything he could be hiding behind.

Was he just crouching behind something?

“Yeah?” She called back, shoulders quickly tensing at the idea of the strange boy being somewhere she couldn't see. “Where are you? You said you wanted to talk?”

There was a long pause then. Wherever Nohi was, he could certainly see who was with her.

“Who are those two?” he called back. “We need to speak in private!”

Chihiro grit her teeth and quickly forced herself to calm down. Getting irritated wouldn't do anything. 

“You broke into my house I'm not doing anything alone with you if I can help it.”

For some reason that was reason enough to show himself. He had been sitting behind the heater and he'd begun to approach them.

Chihiro stiffened a little and she could see her friends follow suit on either side.

He smiled at her, a weak, shy thing, as though this time he'd expected to be rejected, and knew how to handle it. Kami, he was acting like everything about this situation was against him or something. She pinched her lips together and hummed in displeasure when he started to approach. 

“Yes I ah... I suppose that makes sense.” Though if the kicked puppy look on his face meant anything, he didn't actually understand. 

She hummed and she could see Amaya tense up from the corner of her eye. He had that look again.

That... sad sort of look that made that weird distant look in his eye vanish. The look that made her gut roll in guilt and she still couldn't figure out way.

“So, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

“It's just ah... I wanted to apologize.” She raised a brow and Nohi's distant confidence faded a bit. He gave no specific tells that indicate he was nervous, but Chihiro could somehow... tell.

“Really?”

“Yes. It was very rude of me to come barging in without even asking permission to be let in, especially behind your family's backs.” Though to be honest he didn't seem too apologetic. More like this was his 'plan B' and whatever he'd actually planned to say he couldn't say because she'd brought her friends with her.

But seriously, what could he have expected?

After the... apology, was over and done with, she'd gestured that they were heading inside, she'd grinned at him in that polite way that didn't take a genius to see it was fake. Amaya was quick at her heels, but Harumi lingered back. She glanced over her shoulder at Harumi, but she'd waved her off. 

Nonetheless, the two of them waited in the doorway for their third friend.

“If I ever... Ever.... her a single thing, about you doing anything... bad. To Our darling Hiro-chan, Listen closely new kid.” Harumi leaned in close and While Chihiro couldn't catch what she'd said, she was sure it was particularly gruesome.

“I can assure you,” Nohi answered back “I have no intentions of hurting Chihiro. While your thinly veiled threats are acknowledged, I doubt you'll need them.”

As Harumi rejoined the tow of them Chihrio could have sworn he'd spoken. 

Something about 'protective friends' and things 'not changing'

She'd taken a deep breath and began to descend the staircase.

* * *

The next week or so was much the same, much to Chihiro's unending frustration. Kohaku Nohi was, if anything... dedicated. At least two or three times a day he'd lean over and whisper to her, or pass her a note consisting of calligraphy far too good for the cheap dollar store pen it was written in, asking her to meet him some deserted place. Behind the gym, on the track field at lunch, the auditorium.

He kept asking for her to come alone.

She might have gone to one of them if he didn't specify, brought at least Harumi with her to see her friend follow through on whatever horrible thing she'd threatened him with. But no. Every time it was particularly said that she should come alone. 

He should have known better at this point. Whatever strange fantasy he'd imagined her in, simply wasn't going to happen in real life. Also she could really go without that weird sad face he'd shoot her when he entered the classroom in the morning or after lunch when she'd not shown up to wherever his rendezvous spot had been that day

She'd really started to hate that sad face of his. The same look he'd shot her that first night, the one where the strange distant look on his face would melt away. She'd seen him in class, that weird distant look was like.. his resting face or something. It made it seem like he was a million miles away while he was in fact paying perfect attention. But when he looked at her with that sad face, the distant eyes he constantly had faded. He'd give her his undivided attention, almost like he was silently begging her to figure out whatever it was he wanted from her on with that look alone.

He looked at her like in that moment, she is his whole world, and her snubbing him was hurting more than she could ever imagine.

It made her feel like a massive jerk, and even worse, it made him feel less like a delusional guy with a weird fixation on her, and more like she really had forgotten whatever history they'd shared that he clearly had held so dear to his heart.

But now the school week was ending, and Saturday promised at least two days to really think about what the hell she should be doing with this guy. 

Could she trust that, halfhearted apology aside, he really wasn't going to break into her house again? Probably not.

Maybe she could convince her parents to let her stay with Harumi this weekend.

Or maybe she could..

“Ogino-san?” She looked up from her lunch, she was eating in the classroom today, since Amaya was taking makeup lessons for Gym and Harumi was trying to get a tutor for maths, she wasn't about to be somewhere alone right now though. All the same she smiled politely at the student that approached her. Asanuma, wasn't it? Something-or-another Asanuma. He smiled sheepishly at her and handed her a test with his name on it, a bright red 40 took her aback for a long second. Her confusion at least, was picked up on. 

“I remember you were a history tutor last year.... would it be okay if you could lend me a hand?” He darted his hands up as thought I quickly shrug himself off. “I-I mean, If you don't want to That's totally fine! But I'd be willing to pay for your time...” his face flustered. “I mean! I didn't mean it like-”

She'd been about to wave of his concerns, it was true that she'd found a bit of a niche for world history once she'd entered high school, and it was also true she'd tutored a few kids last year, but she hadn't thought anyone would remember that granted it was more an informal study group instead of a tutoring lesson.

Yet before she could turn down the offer of money and insist that Asanuma visit her house this afternoon and start right away, a pale hand slammed down onto her desk with a loud 'thump'

Nohi leaned over Chihiro's desk, not necessarily getting into Asanuma's face, but making sure he was aware of a threat.

“I wouldn't think it wise to immediately expect such things from Ogino-san, if I were you.” Chihiro felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and something in her gut twist. 

Asanuma looked ready to bolt but before he could Chihiro stood up, her chair rapidly clattering away behind her and placing her hand on Nohi's shoulder, carefully but firmly forcing him away. Kami, what sort of fantasy world did he live in where he could just do that sort of thing when people only wanted her help?

“I'd love to help you with your history studies Asanuma-san.” She finally said, eyes locking with the boy. “But I'll accept no payment for simply assisting a classmate.” 

Asanuma still looked rather shaken even after her assurance though, so she looked back at Nohi to show her dissent. 

“Has anyone taken you on a tour of the school yet? You must have been so lost all week! Asanuma, I'll come to find you after school, alright?” 

Asanuma, bless his heart, nodded and shakily retreated to wherever he and his friends hung out at lunchtime.

Now, to deal with the important part. 

She began to march for the door, hand still firmly on Nohi's shoulder. Tour of the school her foot. She was getting him somewhere public but isolated. She was ending this. Today.

The school they had was pretty small. It was for kindergarten all the way though high school in one building, but there were three stories to separate the different levels. Being high school, they were on the top floor, and she could remember, at the base of the stairs on the second floor, there was a vending machine. Nobody ever really used it granted the juices within were gross generic brand monstrosities, but it was right beside the stairwell, anybody could walk by and see them. 

She glanced back at him once, he was nothing if not startled at her. She clenched her jaw and only briefly let him go to dart behind him.

Nohi didn't run, or really question her. It seemed as though for once, he wasn't imaging himself as the _Tragic Hero_ and had figured out that he'd gone too far.

She placed both of her hands onto either of his shoulders, so guiding him down the stairs would be a little less awful.

_The feeling of wind in her hair and the water current under her belly, paper cuts on her arms.... no scratches from river rocks...no..._

_Sea blue fur tickled her neck and chin as she held on for dear life as they fell—no swam—no flew._

She flinched back. Kohaku chanced peeking over his shoulder at her, and for a long moment She'd honestly forgotten what she'd been so mad about.

But the memory was soon to return. Asanuma's terrified face, being punished just because he wanted help with a subject he was weak in. How she'd _shown_ Kohaku his behavior made her uncomfortable and he _still_ decided he would speak for her. The anger came back, but it was less encompassing.

She probably should have expected it. 

She held her hands close to her chest she walked down the stairs ahead of him and silently pointed to the decently wide space between the vending machine and the wall.

Silently, clearly unsure, Kohaku followed her direction. Carefully slotting himself in the empty space and waiting for her to begin.

And while she may have ranted until she was blue in the face before, that.... thing that happened... had her a little off her game.

“I just want to know a couple of things.” She said instead. His dark eyes focused on her again, the distant look faded, but it wasn't accompanied by the sad face. So she at least was thankful for that much.

“I'll be willing to answer any questions you may have.” he said after a moment's pause. 

“Why. What in Kami's name made you decide not only to speak for me, but to someone who just wanted my help?” If anything her question made him look even more unnerved.

She tried to feel a little vindictive pleasure in that, but she couldn't quite manage it.

“It was a mistake on my part.” he admitted eyes no longer meeting hers and slowly his brow furrowed in confusion. “I'm not sure if I understand why myself.”

She already had a little bit of an idea, but she wasn't about to help him at this point

“Alright, and you know i'm not going anywhere with you alone, right?” he flinched a little at that, but he did nod his understanding. “So whatever it is you've been so eager to speak to me about, you have sixty seconds.”

She hadn't actually thought about that as she'd dragged him here, but now that she'd given him the option it really was the perfect opportunity. They weren't isolated so if things went wrong she could take off, but the conversation was private enough that she couldn't see why he would say no to it. 

Either way this game of his ended.

There was a long moment of silence before he finally spoke. He glanced down, the distant look in his eye didn't focus, but he took on an air of resigned sadness.

“That hair tie.” He finally said. “You've worn the same once since you were ten have you not?” Well... great. He was back to the cryptic questions wasn't he? Her hand drifted to the base of her ponytail, the shiny purple elastic felt stretched taut under her hand, but it was still keeping her hair from her face. 

“...So?”

“Have you ever noticed that it's never stretched out to the point of disuse? You've had it for over seven years now, you'd think it would have snapped.” Her lips pinched to the side, Throw up the walls. She'd let her in control visage slip after... whatever that was on the staircase.

She had to maintain her tough face. It's what's kept her in one piece since she arrived in Tochinoki and it made her feel safe.

And Kami knew she needed to feel safe at the moment.

“Not sure if I understand what my _hair accessories_ have to do with any of this.”

His shoulders stiffened, his eyes darted up to meet hers again, the distant look faded and his gaze focused on her, but this time... this time it seemed like he found what he'd been looking for every other time.

Now a small smile was curling up the corners of his lips and his eyes were shining with a sort of energy she hadn't seen before.

“Do you remember where you got it?” He reached up, before Chihiro could even think to push him away from her he'd taken either of her hands in his own. 

“What?”

Someone must have left a window open, she could feel the breeze beginning to send a few streaks of cold down her back and across her shins.

“Do you remember where you got your hair tie?” he repeated, voice slow and every word deliberate. Like he was afraid of misphrasing something and ruining things. 

She didn't know what possessed her to answer such a ridiculous question, it was seven years ago, how could she have known where she'd gotten a particular hair tie? 

But she did. She said what felt right.

“It was a gift from my friends before I left.”

His eyes were glimmering with a strange light and the smile on his face grew. 

Slowly, he lifted their joined hands higher, until they framed her line of sight.

“You did it, Chihiro.”

_The wind billowed around her as they fell. Her ponytail flew behind her like a banner, Her clothes rippled and whipped across her stomach, the cold wind making her stomach itch._

_A pair of warm hands were tight in her own, they were rushing to hit the ground, but they'd been so high up it would be a good long time before they hit the ground._

_She was surprised she could hear anything beyond the rush of wind in her ears but she could hear the squeaking of Baby Bou, still a mouse, and the buzzing of Yubaba's hawk turned soot crow._

_But most importantly, she heard Haku._

_She tore her gaze away from the far away ground to look upward, and there he was. His sea foam green eyes glistening with unshed tears in the moonlight. The stoic face of a prisoner was gone and he bright smile of the river spirit lit up the world around them._

_“You did it Chihro!” He cried out, his voice somehow carrying perfectly in the air._

_Haku... No wait... _Ko_ haku looked at her in that moment as though she was his whole world, If she hadn't forgotten her own name just the day previous she would have thought it was for nothing. That she'd just remembered the name of a river._

_But they both knew that wasn't the case._

_Kohaku remembered his name, the slug Yubaba had put in him was dead by her own hand. He was free._

_She'd helped free him._

_“I remember! I remember I _am_ the spirit of the Kohaku river!”_

__

Her knees felt weak under her.

She felt Haku's— _Ko_ haku's—Hands slip from hers to brace her shoulders, but her vision was going black.

She slumped down and vaguely felt her head hit against his chest.

And then... 

And then she dreamed.

She dreamed of bathhouses and identical witches and pigs and cleaning things.

She dreamed of a dragon.

* * *

When she awoke it was on the scratchy sheets of the cot in the school nurse's office. She remembered being in here once before. The first time she'd gotten cramps, and the sheets had felt awful against her already hypersensitive skin.

Now the feeling was pleasantly dulled by the sleepy haze that was hanging over her head.

One of the things she noted, was that her hair was down, free against her shoulders and her upper back. Her mind distantly dug at her for panic, trying to wake her up to look for her hair tie. Her special gift... but she could feel it tight around her right wrist, whomever had taken her hair down had been kind enough to not part her from it.

Her arms felt like lead, but she lifted one anyway to hold above her head.

Her hair tie was the same gleaming purple it always was, sparkling against the light. 

Her hair was down but whoever took it down knew enough about her to make sure it was still on her person. 

She could remember the way Noh face practically oozed pride, and the way Bo, even as a little mouse, had puffed his chest up when she didn't even hesitate to put it in her hair.

Her eyes began to sting.

She could remember Zeniba, and how the old witch's strong arms felt and the silky fabric of her dress when she'd hugged her and asked Chihiro to call her Granny.

It was hard to breathe for a long second, every time she tried her breath stopped with a stutter. 

She remembered Rin steadily rowing away as she forced her feet through the water. Calling her Sen, and apologizing for calling her a dope.

She lifted her heavy arms to cover her eyes and quietly began to cry.

She could hear the door open but she turned on her side, towards the wall, and opted to ignore whoever it was.

She...

Seven years ago, she, Chihiro Ogino, Traveled into the spirit world, and in a desperate gambit to eventually save her parents and return home, she'd sold her name and took up a job in a bathhouse for spirits.

She could remember, and while the memories were only spanning three days, remembering _hurt_. Her head ached and her heart hurt, how could she have forgotten those terrifying—amazing— _wonderful_ days? Haku had said her parents wouldn't remember being pigs, but why couldn't _she_ have remembered when she came back tot he human world? The road to the clock tower was still there at the bottom of the hill! For seven whole years she could have gone back if she wanted to, if she'd known! 

The thud of footsteps approaching the cot made her groan slightly in pain. It wasn't someone who would tread lightly. This person moved with a kind of confidence she wished she could maintain—a kind of confidence that _Rin_ had. Crap. She finally had the answer to her parent's worries.

Hopefully whoever was approaching—Probably the school nurse—would just assume she'd fainted out of a migraine and she was still in pain.

But no. Whoever it was approached the cot, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She closed her eyes even tighter, but the voice that spoke wasn't the calm tenor of the school nurse.

It was a course, but distinctly feminine voice.

“Hey Sen, You up?”Her eyes snapped open.

Despite the pain throbbing in her head and the tears that were still trekking down her cheeks, she darted up in place, swiveling her torso and hearing the small shout of surprise as she backed away.

Her hair was short now, but still the almost choppy, straight look, her pink puffed up lips emphasized with a sparkly sort of lip gloss that was so... _human_... she could have never imagined on her.

“Rin!” Rin still eyed her like she'd up and attack her for a moment before her eyes got all squinty and she started laughing.

“Wow Sen! You really got me there for a second! You grew up to be a feisty little thing didn't you!”

Rin's thin arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled Chihiro into an embrace.

“Though I should probably call you Chihiro now, shouldn't I?” Her chuckles reverberated in Chihiro's chest and she only needed a moment of shock before she wrapped her arms around Rin's middle in return.

“I can't believe you're here!" She cried in response. She knew if the actual nurse was here she'd be quickly shushed, she was sure that she'd caught the attention of nearby classes, but why would she care about that!

“Yeah that's not the odd part. The odd part was how I was able to handle Dragon boy without throttling him.” Rin pulled away specifically to glare toward the door, no doubt, where Kohaku was.

“I swear, if I didn't owe him for buying out my contract...”

“He bought out your contract?” Lin looked back at her for a moment, before she rolled her eyes.

“He was at least smart enough to know he needed me to stand a chance in the human world. But He didn't listen to a damn word I said so why bother.”

Chihiro scooted aside and Lin took the silent invitation to sit down.

“What happened?”

“Well, right after he bought me out from Yubaba he ripped up my contract. Turns out my real name's Arina. Go figure.”

* * *

“So then I rushed right the eff over here. I told them I was your sister, to pick you up and head home early. Schools are so trusting!”

She was clutching the thin cot pillow to her gut, steadily, as Rin—or rather, Arina—spoke, the pain in her head began to fade, by the time she finished talking it was nothing more than the faint buzz of pain in the back of her head.

There was a knock on the door then. And if the silhouette in the frosted glass meant anything, it was Kohaku.

Chihiro darted to her feet, she saw Arina in the corner of her eye leaning back in shock a little as she marched up to the door.

This felt like such a divine plan, everything was out of her control.

At least now she knew she was emulating what she'd subconsciously remembered of Rin. The door slid open, and indeed, it was Kohaku, he looked shocked for a moment but his whole face lit up in joy.

“Chihiro, you're alright!”

She punched him in the shoulder, not hard, but he still flinched back and she made sure her expression was more of a pinched pout than a scowl. So he knew she wasn't legitimately angry.

“She told you not to go through the friggin' Window!”

Kohaku's lips flattened, and she watched his brow furrow, there was, what must have been an apology on the tip of his tongue, but she cut him off.

She didn't see his reaction when she fell forward and hugged him, her arms clamping tightly around his middle, but if the quick shift between stiff and relaxed meant anything, he was happy enough to get it.

“And then you kept asking me to be alone, and that dumb little fit with poor Asanuma...! How was I supposed to remember you with all of that as my impression?!”

She could hear her voice began to tremble, and she could feel the tears gathering in her eyes again.

His arms wrapped around her shoulders, she felt his chin gently rest on the top of her head.

“Truly Chihiro, I am sorry. I brought Arina along because She would handle humans better than I could, and yet my eagerness to find you overruled my better judgement.” He chuckled slightly and she could feel his chest move against her.

“And as for your friend, Asanuma....” He paused for a moment, as though ashamed of himself. “I'll admit to it. I was jealous.”

“Gee, really? I couldn't tell.” She hoped he could hear the sarcasm in her voice, it seemed like he did, because she could hear the smile in his voice.

“I missed you Chihiro. It took a long time on your side for me to find you, but I promised I would. And I did.”

Her arms tightened around him.

“You're such a jerk. I missed you when I didn't even remember you!” 

She heard Arina laugh behind them, and she lifted her head. Kohaku peered down at her, confusion in his sea foam eyes.

“You've got some massive making up to do with my friends you know. Whatever Hiromi threatened you with, she and Amaya will follow through on.”

A flash of nervousness passed through Kohaku's eyes and she laughed.

“I'm sure you can survive them.” He smiled slightly, the slightest pink to his cheeks.

“As long as you're beside me.” 

She leaned her head forward again, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“And you're paying for a new window for my room.”

“I still have the bruise from your bludgeon, is that not payment enough?”

“It was a baseball bat. And not even close.”

"Baseball? That's a sport right?"

Chihiro laughed and clutched the back of his shirt tight.


End file.
